Posts by Phoebe Ladenberg

While Cristiano Ronaldo puts on a brave smile as he sees his beloved face warped into hideous contortions in a statue meant to last for generations, we consider which tradition of portraiture sculptor Emanuel Santos was following.

Browsing through Dreweatts & Bloomsbury’s Designer Handbags and Luxury Accessories catalogue the other day it struck me not only how rare and lovely some of these items were, but how good value they are too. At a time when ‘second-hand’ has transformed itself into ‘antique’, ‘vintage’, ‘original’ and ‘special edition’, we have seen many Oxfams and British Heart Foundations change from the traditional 10p-bargain-bin format into vintage boutiques priced by fashion experts. This has become a common way for people to give money to charity, while the charities’ profits have multiplied. What it also means, however, is that those one-off gems that used to be discovered nestled behind a rail are few and far between, as they tend to be sold on for the (correctly) higher price to a more specialist shop.

Oh, London! I don’t think many of us have felt more at the beating (palpitating) heart of the action than we have over the past few weeks. As our island bobs on this choppy sea, and the rats abandon ship at an astonishing rate, many people in our city attempt to set it apart from the rest, for better or worse. The demonstration on Saturday 2 July was a largely peaceful, happy affair, but charged with political conviction and fervour: placards reading “S.O.S.” and “I will always love EU” were humorous pleas to those on the continent not to leave us behind.

We’re often talking to clients about how and why some pieces, events or exhibitions get publicity and others don’t. The truth is, when working with the media, the reason is not necessarily the artistic merits of the work alone, but the story surrounding it. There are some key factors that are very likely to capture a journalist’s attention and get the client the exposure they are looking for.